The Volga’s source is in the remote Valdai Hills to the west and south of the Rybinsk Reservoir. It proceeds southeast toward Yaroslavl, eventually flowing into the Caspian Sea. Half of Russia’s river cargo is transported along the Volga, and its water is used to irrigate the steppe regions of the south. Nearly the entire length of the Volga is navigable from about March until mid-December.
Russian ties to the Volga run strong and deep. The river enjoys mythological status, having been serenaded and honored in poems, paintings and music. Itinerant laborers known as burlaks in Czarist Russia hauled the boats on long ropes pulled by teams on the riverbanks. At the time it was cheaper to use human labor than that of horses or other draft animals. As the men hauled, they sang songs to help maintain a steady rhythm.
Sights and stops along the Volga include the Rybinsk Lock, with its statue of Mother Volga and Cathedral of the Transfiguration; the Golden Ring city of Yaroslavl with its lovely riverside promenade and colorful churches; another Golden Ring city called Kostroma, historically a center of trade and the arts, with its legendary Ipatyesky Monastery; and the medieval city of Uglich, a favorite of Ivan the Terrible.
Volga-Baltic Waterway – Completed in 1964 to replace the antiquated Mariinskaya Canal, the Volga-Baltic Waterway is a system of rivers and canals linking Russia’s Volga with the Baltic Sea. Spanning 229 miles and including seven locks, the waterway starts in Rybinsk and journeys along the Svir and Neva Rivers, emptying into the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea, at St. Petersburg.